The Fire Blazes, Burning Bright

"Hmm," she mused as he finished. But then he was asking about Drumstrang and she wasn't sure if that meant she should leave the house subject alone or not.

"Well, I suppose that depends on who you're friends with. Some people have quite a group, but it can definitely feel like you're on your own there. I think it might be different if the school had a better history," she conceded, tilting her head to the side to watch the tinsel. How he managed to do that without actually focusing on it was beyond her, but it was really quite impressive.

"It was founded by a really wonderful woman, but we've had a lot of... bad folks. But the school itself is kind of wonderful," Avery decided in hindsight. "There's this- This boat. A ship, really. When it's nice out, some students go up and jump off of it into the lake. Kind of like pirates," she laughed, grinning at the memory of it. Robin had probably been one of those kids.

"They would've been Gryffindors, probably, hm? Keiran didn't explain them very well, to be fair. I don't think he liked how he was sorted." She shrugged a little. "I always imagined I would be a Hufflepuff, too. I'm not enough of the other houses to end up there, seems like. I'm kind of glad I didn't have to pick, or be assigned or whatever. Doesn't that make for a lot of fighting among students?"

Realizing that, not only had she dropped him earlier, she was still failing to help and just chattering on instead. Stopping for a moment, she drew her wand from her boot, where she had tucked it again. "What do you think," she began, twirling the wand a bit, "about little floating tea candles that change color when people walk under them?"

He listened placidly to Avery's description of her alma mater, continuing on his work with the decorations. It wouldn't be until they hit the second floor that they'd need to turn their attention to the suits of armor, and he figured he should keep up the pretense of working. Not that this was a pretense! He did need to decorate, after all. He just had not planned on decorating so thoroughly.

He grinned at her description of the ship, hearing the warmth in her voice. He was especially intrigued by her description of the founder. He hadn't known a woman had founded the controversial school - or perhaps he had known and had simply forgotten. The fact that she went out of her way to mention it was enough for him to mentally flag the factoid, something to come back to and investigate later.

"Probably," he interjected with a grin at her assumption. It sounded like something James would have done, no doubt. Upon consideration, however, he could see young Teddy finally coerced into joining his brother. He weighed her statement and said, "Yeah, it made for some fighting. I think some worked hard to not be defined by our Houses. My sister Lily - adopted, that is - probably the opposite of a Gryffindor in appearance. Not meek, or anything, but she places no value in shows of bravery or loyalty. If you didn't know, you'd think she was a Ravenclaw." He paused, realizing an explanation might help. "Er, the smart lot. Or, well, the ones that value the smarts."

She asked about the tea candles and he turned his head, rolling his lips and glancing upwards as though visualizing them, even though the idea already seemed charming enough. "I think that'd look lovely."

The continued on a few steps further when he said, "We have that too here, though. Bad folks. The Slytherin House is sort of reviled, even still. For a long time, there wasn't a dark wizard who hadn't come out of Slytherin. No matter how many dark wizards come out of the other houses, or how many good ones come out of Slytherin, there's this... this stigma." He pointed them down one corridor, deciding they could cut through another passageway to finish up the other side and then head up the stairs. "My brother, Albus," he shook his head, implying that this was another adopted relative, "was sorted into Slytherin. Wasn't too keen either. I remember James teasing him, insisting he would be Slytherin, and how mortified he would look. He braved the sorting, took it as a cross to bear, I think. And he ended up doing really well there, honestly. He's a good man."

At least, I think so. I haven't called him in ages, so what do I know?

Avery didn't want to point out to Teddy that he wasn't entirely correct. Grindelwald had come out of Durmstrang. Plenty of others from other corners of the world. But Hogwarts had its own mentality, and she didn't doubt that it was quite valid in its own way, in its own right. Undoubtedly, the two schools would have been taught different things. And that was no fault of their own.

So she just nodded along to his explanation, wondering if she would have felt any sort of house rivalry. It didn't sound like the Hufflepuffs would be the sort to get involved, and despite Teddy's description including the idea that house members were supposed to be extremely nice - which she wasn't sure applied to her - she was rather convinced she would've ended up there. But she had heard just incredible amounts from Keiran about Slytherin house.

The fear that perhaps she wasn't meant to talk about it to one of Keiran's employees did cross her mind, but Avery wasn't concerned that she should have trust issues when it came to this professor. What reason would he have to bring it up, anyway?

"Oh, believe me," she said after a moment, "I've heard about that house."

Her hand moved, using one of the simpler transfiguration spells she could remember, bringing the tea candle idea to life. As they walked on, she sent them up, lighting them. At first, they were a simple yellow-ish flame color, but once they passed and she turned her head to look, she found that the charm had actually worked. Brilliant. Behind them, the candles were an almost surprising silver.

"Keiran used to believe, too, that all Slytherins were bad news. I don't think he ever managed to stop blaming himself for everything, though. If he hadn't been so obsessed with becoming Headmaster of this place and living up to his father somehow, maybe he would've been in Ravenclaw. I mean, I don't know if he thinks he's all that clever, but I do. Did you know he's writing a book? Granted, it's about Transfiguration so that probably isn't surprising. But it seems like it's coming along rather well."

Avery shrugged, sending up another few candles before they came upon a staircase. Pure shock came over her, expression making the fact quite obvious. Was that staircase moving? What for?

But the staircase slid into place, and she looked at it rather warily, waiting for Teddy to go first. What else did this castle have up its sleeve? No wonder the professors wanted to come back and teach.

"Can I... ask you a favor?" She requested hesitantly, her free hand falling to the railing as they ascended. "See, I don't have a lot of time to see Keiran anymore, since both of us work, and with the kids and everything. I just..." She sighed, deciding that the blunt route would be the best one. So she stopped on the stairs and looked up at him, waiting for him to stop as well. "The divorce was hard on him. And... he's basically my brother, after all we've been through. But he doesn't tell me everything. Never has. If something seems... off," she requested, shaking her head when the right word wouldn't come to mind, "I would really appreciate it if you'd let me know."

Teddy couldn't remember a time where he had talked so much. Maybe before the Ilvermorny problem, when Maddie finally forced him to open up. But considering he had been teaching for several months now, it should have probably made him call into question his entire teaching style. Sometimes, he thought about suggesting Keiran let the professors watch each other's lessons to help give advice. Of course, they'd have to probably disguise themselves, as the students would definitely change their behavior the second another professor was present, for the better or for the worst.

Hmm. He'd have to bring it up with Keiran.

It seemed he wasn't the only one with the Headmaster on his mind. He tilted his head at her words, a knowing smile on his face. He had heard Albus' complaints pre-sorting enough to know that the ones who knew what Slytherin implied but didn't want it always seemed to have quite an opinion on the house of green. Of course Keiran would be one of those sorts. He supposed, considering it, he might have thought Keiran more of a Ravenclaw. He was much too serious and not self important enough for Gryffindor, and too much of a man of action for Hufflepuff - though he supposed that Zabini boy and Ace were working to challenge that stereotype.

The more Avery spoke of Keiran, the more the depth of their relationship became clear to Teddy. He found his gaze drooping, the pattern of the tinsel less tight, more haphazard. He felt a strange internal shift he couldn't quite put his finger on. He wasn't sure why this observation had surprised him so much. Each time he had met Avery, it had been through Keiran, or because of him. In both, Keiran had been her relief from his company. She knew about his past and present. It seemed pretty clear.

"I didn't know that," he said, his voice a bit blank. Upon realizing that, he glanced over at her, smiling. "That's pretty amazing. I don't know how he does so much."

They stepped onto the staircase, and Teddy was glad that they'd be focusing on the suits of armors now. Less room for error. He glanced over at Avery again, just in time to catch her surprise about the moving staircase. He felt a smile unfurl despite his sudden shift of mood. "They do that."

Her next words seemed to guarantee a continuation of that mood, for some reason. A favor regarding Keiran boded... what, exactly? Was he to pass along a message Avery didn't feel she could say in person or something? He could see the first pair of suits of armor approaching and he felt his feet unconsciously slowing as Avery's tone grew more serious. "He's basically my brother... It something seems off... I would really appreciate it if you'd let me know."

Oh. Right. That.

He looked over at her, and saw her blue eyes still watching him with worry, probably certain he was going to refuse or to back out of it, or offer lame platitudes. He blinked back his surprise, surprise for an outcome that somehow lessened the strange sensation that had begun to settle inside him. "Oh. Um. I mean, yeah. I understand your concern. He's been through a lot. And it's really hard when someone you care about stops letting you in, when you just want to help. I've been there." He swallowed. "Yeah, I'll let you know."

And then, because things were a little too heavy, he smiled. "Maybe over coffee."

"Oh, I'm not surprised," Avery smiled. "I don't think he knows how he does it, either, but really, being that busy is the only way he thrives."

But she was relieved, of course, that she could let off her seriousness when he agreed to help her. Thank Merlin. Keiran liked to think that he was doing fine, but everybody knew better. Of course, Avery had no idea that he had Liv to come by, and had met a pub owner that actually made him laugh without trying for the first time in ages. So, really, he was getting past the bad in some ways, though it sometimes felt like he was getting hit over the head with surprise guilt, remorse or anxiety. Avery just didn't know how often that did or did not happen.

When he lightened the mood again, she lifted an eyebrow even though she couldn't keep the corners of her lips down. So she started up the stairs, closing the distance between them and continuing on past.

"By my count, Professor Lupin, that's the second time you've asked me to coffee within an hour." When she reached the top of the stairs, she spun around to face him again, walking backwards towards the armor that she, too, had spotted. "If you're not careful, I might start to think you're looking forward to it."

The last word was extended into a smile more beautiful and broad than any she had managed in over a year, only for her to turn back around a moment later and head toward the suits, her curls swaying along behind her.

Internally, she was shocked at herself, unsure where that had come from. So despite how upbeat she probably seemed from his angle, Avery was chiding herself silently, eyes wide because she refused to shake her head and let him see the panic. It was so strange! For a minute there, she had almost been back to her old self.

Headmaster Hayes certainly was an interesting man. Teddy had very little one-on-one time with Keiran, but he felt some strange kindredship with the man, as though they may be made of the same stuff. Made of the same stuff, but evolved into something different. Or different people given difficult lots in life that had sort of the same flavor, or injected them with a similar brand of sadness. He could have been projecting. He could have been looking for something in common with the man he respected, a man so close to his own age and yet already so much more certain.

Like many other things, Teddy couldn't be sure.

Avery's words caught him off guard, and his head turned so quickly he might have snapped his neck, eyebrows rising and face immediately straining to take on a look of embarrassment. Except she was smiling, big now, bigger than before, and this wasn't one of those quickly manufactured smiles, but a smile that blossomed and grew, that had roots deep inside of her. She wasn't quite looking at him, but she seemed confident in her statement, and he didn't feel scorned or laughed at.

He blinked and suddenly found his footing. "What can I say. I've been in need of some good... coffee." He smirked - not quite a Potter smirk, but something of the playfulness was there.

They had reached the suits of armors and he slowed. "So now we need to charm the suits to sing. They've done this for probably a hundred years, they know their tunes, no teaching involved. Just need to give them their voices back."

Avery had caught her lower lip between her teeth, determined to convince herself that what she had said wasn't absolutely mental, but he spoke and she reformed her smile somewhat. It was probably smaller, but she didn't linger on it too much, because he was sassing her right back and she had to physically stop herself from laughing. It sort of came out as a surprised exhale, because she got ready to give in to the laugh, but pressed her tongue to the back of her lower teeth and just shook her head at him.

"Oh, of course." She said once she recovered, certainly more filler for her lack of a rebuttal than anything of substance.

But he came up alongside her and changed the topic. For a moment, after he finished, she just stood there, looking at the suits. But then she cracked a smile again. "Wow. Nice segue."

And, looking over at him, she lifted her eyebrows teasingly before holding up her wand to show him that she was ready. It was certainly the first time that she had done something like this, but animation charms weren't unheard of, obviously, and she remembered well enough that she could follow his lead. If nothing else, she had proved herself to be vaguely helpful at decorations, Avery supposed.

"It's a good thing they're already in tune," she pointed out vaguely as the armor hummed a little as though warming up. "I certainly do not have an ear for that sort of thing."

Tilting her head, she wondered rather absently about what it must feel like to only come alive once a year. Then again, did it matter, if they didn't know once they were turned back? She supposed her interest came from her new part-time activity of learning how to train Fergus. The way people and creatures and - in this case - things thought... it was actually fascinating. Of course, if she had been more self-aware when she were younger, that realization would have already happened.

As if they could hear her thoughts, the started up a duet and Avery couldn't hold back a smile and a gentle laugh. "Brilliant. Onto the next ones?"

Her laughter didn't sound like pity laughter, didn't come across as anything less than genuine and Teddy felt the unfamiliar, forgotten flush of pleasure at having successfully navigated a friendly conversation. His conversations had been so heavy and dark lately, so devoid of hope and so focused on what wasn't working, that to let things slip into casual fun was a practice he had almost forgotten he was capable of. And he couldn't have been too rusty at it, with the generous encouragement he was receiving from Avery.

So it was with a grin that he turned to their task, glad for more than one reason that he wasn't facing this task alone.

"We'd have some horrible screeching if i were in charge of getting them in tune," he agreed. "Luckily, these fellows have remarkable memories it seems. Most of Hogwarts does." Some of those memories were just as horrible as they were remarkable, and yet remarkable nonetheless.

She roused him from his thoughts and he nodded. "Yes. Onward." The found a rhythm, returning to the tinsel and candles in between suits of armors, and then bringing the chorus to life when confronted. They climbed staircase after staircase, and spoke casually of their respective alma maters and Teddy enjoyed a few stories regarding his Headmaster, glad to have found himself such a comfortable companion for what had begun as an ill-fated task.

"Last floor," he announced as they approached the seventh floor. The towers were typically taken care of by the house elves, easy enough to add to their nightly cleanings, so it was just these last sets of suits that needed the work. Once they were done, he clapped his hands together. "Well. I think we did it." And there was a pang of disappointment to realize that, yes, he had done the job. He supposed she needed to head off to see Keiran, and he should get to grading, but he was suddenly, desperately in the mood a cup of coffee.

"Let's see if I got it all," he said, as means to buy time. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a list, unfolding it as he explained, "It's been so long since I've been in charge of decorating everything that I made a list of Christmas-y things to do. Let's see if I got them all." He cleared his throat. "Caroling suits, check. Great Hall tree, check. Lights, check. Tinsel, check. Candles - look at you, you guessed that one. Check. Mistletoe. Oh I missed that one."

He pulled out his wand to conjure some at the archway in front of them when, suddenly, a freight train full of embarrassment barrelled him over, knocking the wind straight out of him. He froze, wand at his side, as he stared up at the arch, praying to Whoever that Avery wasn't looking at him. Was she looking?

He cleared his throat. He could quickly excuse it - no place for mistletoe in a school, what was he thinking. Or mention the sexist nature of the tradition as it was. But, for the life of him, he couldn't manage anything but, "Maybe I shouldn't."

And as if he couldn't make things worse.

"What do you think?"

Kill me. Kill me now.

By the fourth floor, she was immensely grateful for the charm she had put on her heels. Goodness knows she wouldn't have made it up all seven without it, and by the last one she was actually irritated at the clicking sound they made as she walked. A sort of absent-minded worry that he might think so as well was pushed away when their conversation continued, and she forgot about it completely after she responded.

She did hope that none of her stories got back to Keiran, but at least they weren't the worst ones she could have mentioned. Those were the sort that, even though he wasn't around, she imagined that he would know she had brought them up. Some instinctive part of him would just know.

He pulled out his list and she smiled brightly when he mentioned the candles. Of course, it took her a few moments to register the last one. She was only half-listening by that point, figuring that he had taken care of everything. It wasn't until he turned and lifted his wand arm that she properly absorbed the word.

Avery was staring at the wall, but she glanced towards him out of the corner of her eye, pretending she wasn't feeling unjustifiably embarrassed. What was the matter, anyway? She had no excuse for the sudden panic pounding in her chest.

His question reached her and she felt her cheeks light up, though she didn't register the irony of the metaphor that could've been made about them.

"I- I mean, with students, is that really a good-?"

"There you are!"

Releasing the rest of her breath on a surprised exhale, Avery whipped around to look at the stairs. Keiran was there, just having reached the top, but he slowed and eyed the pair of them warily. Observant as the headmaster was, he couldn't figure out what was going on. Teddy looked ready to melt directly into the floor, and Avery seemed to want to disapparate on the spot. But he had arrived, either saving the situation or making it worse. Keiran wasn't sure.

It was too late now, though.

"I tried to find you," Avery said finally, her voice small. But the last thing she wanted to do was accidentally insult Teddy by sounding like she hadn't wanted to be there. "But Teddy said you'd gone off somewhere so I offered to help. I think it turned out.. quite nicely."

Her eyes darted to the professor while Keiran watched her. How odd. Sure, she was an awkward person a lot of the time, but rarely as jolting and uncertain as this. Not since she was around-

Interesting.

Keiran's eyes narrowed slightly - enough for Avery to notice when she looked back again - and the action earned him a disapproving tilt of her head.

"Right, well. I'm glad. What I saw on the way up looked great. But, Avery, the kids were asking about you. Want to come down and say hello before you head home?"

"Of course," she agreed easily, tone much brighter. "It's been ages."

Keiran held out a hand to her, preparing to revel in the fact that he alone could apparate in and around the castle. And she did step towards him. But about halfway there, she stopped. Turned around. And then walked straight up to Teddy, as though she had made up her mind about something important. Unfortunately for Keiran, she lowered her voice when she addressed him.

It felt strangely more intimate than she had intended, once she started speaking, but she didn't want to let that sudden jump in her pulse or the twinge of embarrassment show.

Still, she managed to look right at him as she spoke. "I'm free tomorrow after two-thirty. There's a coffee shop that I like just down from the Leaky, to the right if you're facing the entrance. I'll be there by three, if you find the time."

But she was too afraid to wait and hear the answer, so she just flashed a quick, tiny smile before turning and skittering back towards Keiran.

Keiran seemed to be the Patron Saint of Interruptions, because it was his voice that allowed the pair of them the relief from their awkward turn in conversation - awkward because he was a raging idiot. Avery whipped around in surprise, but Teddy's response was almost something of a guilty wince, as though the blonde's friend had a homing beacon that summoned him anytime she was in trouble, leaving him as the obvious perpetrator of her discomfort. So he turned to look at his Headmaster, almost flinching beneath his gaze, madly wishing he has just called it good once they finished the suits of armor.

Avery answered, and there was almost a guilty quality to her voice too. It struck him then that he had heard this sort of interaction before, when he had been in Keiran's position as the interruptor. How many times as a prefect had he come across a couple embarrassed to find themselves somewhere they weren't supposed to be, their intent more than obvious? At this realization, Teddy felt his neck flush pink and his glasses slip down his nose, causing him to reach up and push them back up.

He quickly tacked onto her statement, hoping to add validity to their alibi - it wasn't an alibi! - and said, "Yeah, Avery was a life saver. Almost literally actually." He glanced at her, having almost forgot about the ladder incident in the course of their enjoyable time together.

Keiran was summoning Avery away and Teddy bowed his head, plunging his hands with the treacherous list into his pocket, feeling suddenly so subservient to the Headmaster and his companion. So imagine his surprise when said companion suddenly turned on her heel and approached him, leaving the illustrious Headmaster for Royal Screw Up old him. Teddy lifted his head in surprise, arms loosening and hands beginning to fall from his pockets. The closeness surprised him - he could smell her shampoo from here. Her eyes were on his and his voice seemed absent but he somehow managed a nod and a "O-okay" before she was gone again. He felt like Keiran's eyes were still on him so he flickered what was meant to be a smile but probably just looked like a confused grimace.

Still, it was a real smile that lifted onto his face when he turned away, walking down the corridor with no real destination in mind.

When the suits of armor began caroling, he found himself whistling along.